A Test of Character
by Mish
Summary: Thrawn and Eli find themselves sent on a mission to an abandoned facility on an empty world, and Eli's not very happy about it.
1. Chapter 1

"She hates us." The sound of metal skidding across the floor echoed in the mostly empty chamber as Eli kicked at the scattered remnants of broken machinery around them. "She really hates us."

"That is the third time you have made that observation since we have entered this structure," Thrawn calmly pointed out, his glowing red eyes standing out even more in the gloomy atmosphere.

Eli shuddered and glanced away. "Yeah, well, it's just as true now as it was those other times." The beam of his flashlight swept the area around them as they proceeded cautiously. It wasn't that they risked setting off any alarms or alerting anyone to their presence. The place was abandoned and had been for ages, by the look of it. Whatever had been left behind had either been raided for parts or had just been broken down by time. "There's absolutely no reason for us to be here. This is just another one of her—" He caught himself, biting his tongue and taking a breath before rewording his thought. "This is just another activity to keep us busy and out of her hair."

"Perhaps," Thrawn said quietly, pausing and staring at something.

Eli stopped beside him and looked as well, but nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye. He sighed. "How much longer do you want to give this?"

Thrawn glanced sideways at him with that disconcerting glow. "Our task is to thoroughly investigate this compound for any sign that one of the local smuggler groups is using it for their purposes. A quick walk-through may not be enough to determine one way or the other."

"Yeah, but...it's creepy." Eli ran his hands up and down his arms as if he was cold. And it was that which made Thrawn's eyes so disturbing right now. Eli had grown used to the Chiss' glowing crimson gaze, so it normally didn't bother him; but being in this setting with that beside him really set off some of those stories he had heard when he was growing up.

"All the more reason to use it as a hideout," Thrawn countered, clearly done with whatever he had been inspecting as he turned away and moved forward again. "If local stories keep people away, then what's to stop the unsavory from taking advantage of it? Unless..." He looked over his shoulder, and Eli could tell by the way his eyes squinted that he was raising an eyebrow, "...do you believe in ghosts, Ensign Vanto?"

"Wh-what? No!" Eli said hastily, shaking his head for emphasis. "I mean...well...I don't know." He bit his lip, focusing his gaze on the floor as if merely watching his footing, although he was really avoiding the condescending look he knew was being directed his way. "There's a lot in the galaxy that I don't know about."

Thrawn made a sound in his throat, and Eli wasn't entirely sure what it meant. "That is a wise answer," Thrawn then said, surprising Eli. "All the same, I am certain you can proceed with the assurance that there are no ghosts here."

"Yeah, I know." Up ahead, Eli could see that Thrawn's flashlight had landed on what appeared to be a turbolift door, and they were now moving toward it. "It's still not fair that she sent us here alone. It's not really safe, either, especially if we do find something here."

"We are not to engage if we discover that this place is not as abandoned as it appears," Thrawn reminded him. "And the _Blood Crow_ is still in the system. We have the means to contact them if the need arises." He patted his side where a long-range comlink was hidden.

"That makes me feel a lot better," Eli muttered. They stopped by the door. "You don't actually expect that to be functional, do you?" he asked dubiously when he realized that Thrawn was contemplating their options. "I don't think anything in this place has power. None of the remaining terminals did, and none of the lights seem to work, either. Besides, who knows where it goes?"

Thrawn's flashlight slid from the door to the wall beside it, illuminating a deteriorated but still readable map of the complex, including the lower floors. Eli felt his ears burning with embarrassment at missing such an obvious detail.

"Your assessment is likely true," Thrawn said, stepping up to the map and leaning close to examine it. "If this place is truly abandoned and is not merely allowed to appear so."

The uneasiness that had been with him since they were first given the mission churned Eli's stomach at Thrawn's words. Turning to look back the way they had come, he could just see the fiery remains of the sunset as it filtered through the filthy windows lining the upper portion of the warehouse.

"It's getting dark," he commented, trying and failing at keeping the nervousness out of his voice.

Thrawn stared at him for a long, anxious moment. "Would you like to abandon the mission?"

 _Honestly?_ Eli thought. _Of course._ But then Captain Rossi would win. And the ramifications of that could be so much worse than simply carrying through with this despite his misgivings. Or fears.

He sighed. "No, go ahead," he said in a resigned voice, waving his flashlight weakly at the door. "Let's see what happens."

At first, there seemed to be no response to the call button, and Eli felt relief flood through him. But that quickly changed. Within moments of Thrawn pressing the button, Eli became acutely aware that something had happened. What exactly it was, he couldn't tell. It was almost imperceptible, so low-level that it could have easily been missed had Eli's senses not already been hyper-aware. He knew that Thrawn had felt it as well.

Something far below them had powered up.

They waited for a few minutes, but nothing else seemed to happen. Thrawn tried the button again, but this time there truly was nothing. Glancing around the room then, he moved away with purpose as Eli followed behind him in confusion. When Thrawn picked up a piece of metal that was long and flat on one end, Eli realized with a start what he was planning on doing. Eli's objection died on his lips as Thrawn strode resolutely back to the turbolift door and worked on wedging the metal into the space where the two sides of the door met. It was only a minute later when he managed to pry the doors apart enough that the mechanism to open them kicked in, sliding them back the rest of the way.

And on the other side of the door was the turbolift car itself, fully lit and ready to go.

They glanced at each other, Thrawn with a small look of triumph in his eyes and Eli with a look of trepidation. The lift may actually be functional, but it looked as decrepit as the rest of the place.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Eli asked as Thrawn moved into the car. He followed hesitantly, pausing at the threshold as if afraid the car would drop from under him the moment he stepped inside.

"It appears to be used on a regular basis, despite its cosmetic deficiencies," Thrawn said, running his fingers along the control panel. "Fascinating," he murmured, bending forward. "A second panel has been added after the fact."

Eli frowned, noting that Thrawn had not actually answered his question. "So what does that mean?" he asked, knowing better than to expect anything more.

"It means, Ensign Vanto," Thrawn replied, looking back at him with a glint in his eye, "that there is more here than meets the eye." The corner of his mouth turned downward briefly. "That is the correct phrase, is it not?"

Eli nodded. "Yeah. So does that mean we can call the captain then and get out of here? Or at least get a bigger crew together to explore—" Eli jumped as the door slid shut behind him then turned to glare at Thrawn.

"I did not touch anything," Thrawn said, holding his hands up innocently.

The lift began to move downward.

"Well, then, where is it taking us?" Eli demanded, hearing his voice waver and feeling angrier because of it.

"I do not know," Thrawn said, and Eli could see that he was now tense as well. No, he wasn't responsible for this. "Perhaps whoever is using this facility was not pleased with someone breaking through their front door."

Eli crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at Thrawn. "Imagine that."

The lift shuddered and screeched to a halt. Eli fell back, gripping the rail that ran around the wall of the lift. His knuckles were white, and his eyes were wide. Thrawn appeared equally concerned.

"It would seem—" Thrawn was cut off as the lift suddenly lurched again, but this time Eli's stomach was in his throat as he felt the terrifying sensation of freefall.

"Sir—!"

"Brace for impact."

Eli's gaze darted back and forth across the tiny lift. Brace for impact? In a falling lift? How?! Was there any way to survive such a thing? He was pretty sure he had only ever heard of fatalities in such incidents, and now here they were on some forsaken planet, plunging to their deaths, and he was pretty sure Captain Rossi wouldn't shed a tear. Would his parents ever find out? Or would they just be told that he was killed in the line of duty? The line of duty. If he could, he would snort with disgust right now, but the immanency of death filled his mind until there was nothing else.

Then, with a bone-shattering crunch, everything went dark.

He wasn't dead.

That was the first thought that went through his mind.

There was something soft beneath him.

That was the second.

With a start, he realized that the "soft" thing was actually a body—Thrawn's body. Gasping, he scrambled backward. His head pounded. Only one dim bulb remained flickering above him, threatening to go out any moment and send him back into the darkness.

Thrawn was not moving.

"Sir?" Eli asked hesitantly. When Thrawn didn't respond, he tapped his face lightly. Still nothing. Holding his breath and hearing his heart pounding in his ears, he placed his fingers at Thrawn's neck, hoping that a Chiss pulse could be as easily determined as a human one. He waited for several agonizing seconds and then nearly collapsed with relief. Thrawn was still alive, just unconscious. Unconscious was not good, but it was far better than death. He could not bear the thought of being alone here.

"Sir, please wake up," he begged quietly, wincing at the sound of his voice as it echoed slightly in the lift car.

How far had they fallen? Had they actually reached the bottom, or were they caught up again as they had been before the freefall? He had a feeling it was more likely the latter, given that they were both still alive. But how tenuous was their current situation? They should probably get out of the lift right away before it fell again. But how to get out? What if opening the door was enough to shift them loose and drop them again?

And what would he do if Thrawn didn't wake up?

Eli felt his breaths coming quicker as he began to panic. He could not panic. That would not help them right now. Help. Yes, they needed help. He slipped his hand into the pocket of Thrawn's tunic, his fingers finding the comlink and pulling it out. They were still in the system, Thrawn said. This should be able to reach them. He switched it on—

—and nearly threw it across the car as the static of jamming filled the air. He immediately switched it back off, glancing automatically at Thrawn as he did so. Still no response, however. His anxiety level increased just a bit more. So, no communication. He remembered his conversation with Thrawn about military comlinks lacking any sort of distress call and swore quietly under his breath. That could have been really useful right now. Sliding the comlink back into Thrawn's pocket, he sat back on his heels, surveying the car and working hard to keep from panicking.

Then, from somewhere outside the lift, he heard a scraping sound.

Not like someone was trying to break in, but rather like something was dragging along the ground. It was very faint, as if from a distance. Eli pressed his ear to the door. Yes, there was definitely something on the other side. He fell back, huddling against the wall near Thrawn, opposite the door. That meant there was a hallway or a room there, if he could get the door open. But it also meant there was _something_ there. And if his ears were working correctly, it was coming closer.

And it would probably know how to open the door.

With that final thought, the lightbulb went out.


	2. Chapter 2

The turbolift was pitch black, and with his sight gone, every little noise grew unnaturally loud in Eli's ear. The scraping as it moved closer. The quiet groan of stressed metal. His own erratic breathing. Eli pressed his lips together, holding his breath, only to find his heart thudding wildly in his chest.

What were they going to do? What was he going to do? Thrawn was still unconscious, and Eli was frozen to the spot. Even if he could see, he would have no idea what to try.

The scraping stopped. Everything fell deathly silent. The air in the lift pressed down on him, smothering him, slowly suffocating him in this metal coffin. His panic level increased again. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, focusing on taking a deep breath. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.

The turbolift car shuddered, and Eli squeaked in fear, automatically reaching out and grasping for a hold on Thrawn.

"Sir! Sir, please—!" he begged, his voice a harsh whisper. "Thrawn!"

But the lift did not fall. In fact, Eli had the strangest sensation that it had actually stabilized. And then he went cold.

Something was trying to open the doors. Just as he had feared.

A long shaft of light appeared across the lift, and Eli threw himself down alongside his prone companion. Perhaps if whoever it was thought they were both dead, he or she or it would leave them alone. His hand brushed against the holster at his side. If the first ruse didn't work, then maybe he could use his blaster to take out whoever was pushing his way inside. Then, with the doors open, he could grab Thrawn and get them out of there.

Unless, of course, there were multiple hostiles on the other side. Then they were as good as dead.

There was a terrible screech of metal, and Eli squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to control his breathing. He had to keep perfectly still in order for this to have any possibility of working. Even through his closed eyes, he could see the light spilling into the lift from the room or hallway beyond it.

Metal creaked and groaned, but it was not the lift this time. Eli could hear the sounds of servos and rusted joints moving, and a bone-chilling dread fell over him. Taking a risk, his opened his eyes just enough to peer upward through his lashes. His breath caught in his throat.

Filling the doorway was a large, bulky droid of a sort he could not recognize. There was a row of bright lights on its head, which it swiveled back and forth as it scanned the lift. That was the source of light he had seen through the door. From this angle, he could not tell if there were any other lights in the space beyond it.

The light then swept over the two of them lying on the floor and stopped. Eli held as still as possible and prayed desperately that Thrawn would not choose this as the time to wake up. A horrible sound suddenly filled the lift, almost like a static-filled comm signal with a voice trying to break through, and Eli winced reflexively. Thankfully the positioning of his face should have hidden the reaction from the droid.

What had that been? Had it come from the lift control panel?

The sound came again, and this time Eli realized it had come from the droid itself. He tensed. Was it going to attack? Should he snap up his blaster and see who could get in the first shot?

But before he could do anything, the droid moved away, making that terrible scraping sound again. With a small frown, Eli peered cautiously through his eyelashes again. Sure enough, the droid had backed into what Eli could now see was indeed a hallway, barely lit by a few scattered lights down its length. As the droid turned and moved out of sight, he lifted his head for a better look. Now was their best chance.

Moving as silently as possible, he crept across the lift to the open doorway, peeking carefully around the corner. The droid moved slowly toward the left-side wall where Eli could just make out the shape of a droid port embedded there. Lifting one of its arms, the droid extended a jack toward the port. Fully aware that time was of the essence and that the droid might be about to sound the alarm, Eli turned back and scurried over to Thrawn.

"Sir?"

Thrawn was still unconscious, and Eli couldn't help growing more worried. Take a deep breath, he positioned himself beside Thrawn. "I'm sorry, sir. I know you probably shouldn't be moved, but you're dead for sure if you stay here," he muttered under his breath. Then, drawing Thrawn's arms up and over his own shoulders, he hauled the Chiss' dead weight onto his back and slowly rose to his feet. He took a step and had to stop as Thrawn slid back. With a quiet huff, Eli turned around and wrapped his arms around Thrawn's back, hoping desperately that he wasn't aggravating a back injury as he shifted him back up so that his head lay on Eli's shoulder. "I know this is awkward, sir. I'm sorry." Turning his head enough to see behind him, he cautiously made his way back to the lift doors, checking to make sure the droid hadn't moved.

Its back was still toward them, the soft whirring of the port the only sound in the hallway. Eli bit his lip, searching the area close by for any sort of cover they could duck behind. Doors lined the hallway, and there were stacks of crates set against the wall beside some of the doors. The nearest door was right next to the droid, and based on the symbol by the door that Eli could see in the dim lighting, there was most likely a stairwell behind it. But there was no way he could get there without being seen. On the opposite wall was one of the stacks of crates. If he could move fast enough, he just might be able to get them on the other side before the droid was done with whatever it was doing.

Bracing himself, he made his move, grimacing as Thrawn's feet dragged along the ground. It wasn't loud, but the droid would have to be in some serious disrepair if it didn't pick up the sound on its sensors. However, given that it looked like it was as old and worn down as the rest of this place, it was a distinct possibility, and one that he would have to chance.

Eli had just finished propping Thrawn up against the wall on the far side of the crate when the droid straightened and turned its head as if it had heard something. Swallowing nervously, Eli glanced between the droid and the hallway now stretching out before them. If anyone else were to come down this way, Eli knew they would be in plain sight. Thankfully the light above them was out, so he was able to use the darkness to help hide them.

With a hideous grinding noise, the droid turned and moved toward the turbolift once more. Eli finally had a decent view of the thing and shuddered. It rolled forward on battered treads that didn't work quite right, resulting in the scraping sound he had heard at first. The body itself was boxy and dull with age, covered with patterned indentations that indicated numerous storage compartments. What for, Eli could only guess. The arms themselves were long and jointed, stretched out in front of it as if it were reaching for something. Eli's gaze shifted to the turbolift, and he could see now that a pair of massive magnetic clamps had been applied to the lift to keep it in place.

The droid suddenly stopped, its head turning again, this time in Eli's direction. With a startled gasp, Eli fell back behind the crate, his body shaking with terror as he heard the droid move again. The light from its head grew brighter as it lumbered closer. Eli's hand went immediately for his blaster. There was no question this time; he would have to use it if they were going to get away.

Setting a firm grip on the weapon, he leaned out again, crying out in both fear and fury as he saw that the droid was mere feet away. The quick flashes of the blaster bolts lit up the end of the hallway as they rained down on the sluggish but relentless machine. It was within reach of the crate now. Eli didn't even think to aim for any vital spots. He just wanted to stop the thing dead in its tracks.

In a shower of sparks and flying metal bits, it finally shuddered to a stop, its head and arms dropping slightly as one of the bolts finally penetrated deeply enough to strike the power cell. The lights on its head flickered out.

Eli found himself breathing hard, and he leaned against the crate, staring with a mixture of horror and revulsion at the twisted scrap poised to grab him.

"I...seem to have missed the action..."

Blinking in surprise and relief, Eli spun around to find a pair of narrow, glowing red eyes gazing back at him wearily.

"Thrawn!" He nearly tripped over his feet as he rushed to Thrawn's side. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you're awake. I was—" He paused, his mouth flattening into a grim line. "I was afraid you'd been hurt badly."

"Well, that still remains to be seen." Thrawn winced as he tried to sit up straighter, a quiet hiss escaping through his teeth. "Where are we?"

"Uh, good point. We actually need to get out of here now before anyone else comes." Holstering his blaster, Eli eyed Thrawn cautiously. "Do you think you can walk?"

Offering himself as support, he helped Thrawn try to regain his feet. Thrawn hissed again, immediately sinking back to the floor. "I fear something may be sprained, or even broken."

Eli glanced anxiously down the hall. The droid had done something at the port on the opposite wall, and he couldn't shake the feeling that others were now on their way. If this place had been in proper condition, he could imagine red flashing lights filling the corridor, along with the blaring of an alarm.

"Let's get somewhere safer, and then we can see about taking care of that, all right?" he asked, trying and not quite succeeding at covering his nervousness. Thrawn merely nodded, and that worried Eli even more. Offering his shoulder once more, he helped Thrawn up again. "Lean as much on me as you need to, sir," he said. He noticed Thrawn eyeing the deactivated droid, which still had its arms outstretched as if to grab them. Eli gave the thing a wide berth, unable to shake the irrational fear that it would suddenly come to life again just as they were in reach.

"I think there's a stairway over here, sir," he said, grunting softly as he half carried the lieutenant across the hall. "If we can get to another floor, that would be better. I hope." Again, Thrawn remained silent. Eli tried to shove down his growing fear.

Thankfully the door to the stairwell was not locked. Thrawn leaned against the wall as Eli pulled the heavy door open and held it so that Thrawn could go through first. On the other side, Eli gently eased the door closed again, avoiding as much extra noise as possible. Turning, he eyed the stairwell. It was slightly better lit than the hallway, for which he was extremely grateful. He did not want to navigate this in the dark. Now for the next decision: up or down?

"Well, we need to head back to the surface as it is," Eli whispered, once more standing as support for Thrawn. "We should probably go up." Thrawn nodded, his eyes closed. Eli grimaced, biting back an apology. There would be time for that later.

They had just set foot on the first stair when from somewhere above them came the distinct sound of a door opening and closing. Eli froze, tensing, holding his breath as he listened sharply. Several agonizing seconds later, another door opened and closed again, but he couldn't tell if it was closer or farther away.

"Okay, down it is," he whispered hastily. Thrawn followed his lead without a word. Eli swallowed painfully. This was bad. This was so very bad. With every second that passed, he felt certain he could feel eyes on them, watching each movement, waiting for the right moment to spring. They had only gone down one level, and he had to get out.

Silently, he tested the door, pushing it open just enough to peek into the hallway. It looked much the same as the previous one, but there were no crates here. Not knowing what else to do, and given that Thrawn needed to sit down somewhere soon, he pushed the door open further and helped Thrawn through it. Again, he closed the door as silently as possible.

They stayed close to the wall on their left, Eli's ears tuned for the sound of anyone or anything in the hall with them. It was silent. He hoped that was a good sign.

The first door they came to was also unlocked, and Eli breathed a silent prayer of thanks. As soon as he ushered Thrawn inside, he pulled the door closed, turning and leaning against it as he slid to the floor. Thrawn had likewise lowered himself to the floor and was leaning with his back to the wall. His head was tilted back and his eyes closed. Pale light shone from the far side of the room, but for the moment, Eli couldn't take his eyes off Thrawn. The Chiss was breathing hard, and his face was pinched with pain. He had never seen him with his guard down like this.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Eli murmured.

Thrawn nodded, but still he said nothing.

Eli resisted the urge to groan. Bad, and it was only bound to get worse. How were they possibly going to be able to get out of here alive with Thrawn injured and hardly able to move? He ran a hand over his face, taking deep breaths. One step at a time. That was how they would do this. Just focus on the next step. He had to find a way to help Thrawn.

Grunting, he pushed himself to his feet again, looking around at the room they had chosen for their temporary refuge. It looked like a lab of sorts, the walls lined with countertops and cabinets, interspersed with sinks and facets. Could there be medical supplies in here somewhere? What would be the odds of that?

Then his gaze fell on the source of light at the opposite end of the room, and he stiffened. The entire far wall had windows stretching across, and the light actually came from whatever was on the other side. He walked slowly, a growing sense of dread like a rock in the pit of his stomach. He stopped at the window, staring out disbelievingly.

"Uh, sir?" Eli could hear the waver in his voice. "This place is definitely not abandoned."


	3. Chapter 3

The windows overlooked a giant cavern, and for several long moments, Eli just stared, dumbfounded. How far down were they, and was this originally part of the facility they had entered on the surface? The cavern itself was well-lit, more so than any other part of the complex they had come across so far. Massive flood lights stood in strategic places along the floor, which was at least a few stories below where Eli now stood, and additional lights were embedded in the rock of the walls and ceiling of the cave.

The floor itself was covered with crates and containers of varying shapes and sizes. What they housed, he could only guess—until his eyes fell on a section that definitely contained hazardous materials and potentially weapons-related supplies. He recognized the symbols on the sides of the containers. He even spotted canisters of tibanna gas stacked up against one of the walls.

Movement caught his eye, and he glanced to the side as someone appeared from around a large stack of shipping crates. Then another movement drew his attention; turning, he watched as a pair of droids carried something across the room until they vanished around the corner of another set of containers a bit further into the cavern. He stood there unmoving, staring, his heart pounding in his chest as he caught sight of a few others moving about the floor.

He fell back away from the window. There weren't just droids here. There were definitely people down there, and by the looks of it, heavily armed. This was no innocent operation. Thrawn's speculation had been correct. How could they possibly get out of here now?

Thankfully, he did notice that none of them seemed to be in a hurry or concerned about intruders, so perhaps the alarm hadn't been sounded by that droid he had demolished. Either that, or they were so confident in the proficiency of their guard crew that they knew they were in good hands and could continue about their business as usual.

That thought made Eli feel _a lot_ better.

"Sir," he called softly, feeling his way along the countertops as his eyes had to readjust to the dark room, "we really need to get out of here."

Thrawn's shadowy form still sat motionless against the wall where Eli had left him. Eli knelt down, frowning, uncertain of what he should do. "What can I do to help you?"

"I cannot continue in my current state," Thrawn murmured, his eyes closed as he breathed with forced calmness. "I am almost certain the lower part of my right leg is broken. There may also be a few cracked ribs, and I fear I may also be suffering from a... _mtokosu_."

"Concussion." Eli's frown deepened, and he bowed his head to hide the fear and guilt on his face. "I'm sorry about that, sir. I'm afraid I may have landed on you when the turbolift stopped."

Thrawn's hand fluttered lightly just above the ground where it had been resting. "Do not worry, Eli. It is better that we are not both injured. As it is, none of it is a life threat. Just a hinder." Eli caught a hint of Thrawn's grimace as he struggled to maintain his Basic. Thrawn took a brief moment to gather his thoughts, thin slits of red appearing in the darkness. "If you wish to help," he continued slowly, "I could do with something for my leg." He gestured as he spoke. "Something to keep it straight. And perhaps something to lean on, so you do not have to continue to bear my weight." Exhaling softly, he closed his eyes again. "At the very least, if I can take the pressure off my leg, I am certain the rest can be managed until we reach safety."

"Yes, yes, of course." Eli rose swiftly to his feet, eager to move, eager to help, eager to do anything but sit there feeling guilty and trapped. He set about examining every cupboard and space he could find. The room was amazingly clean, and he wondered how often it was actually in use. Although, the fact that it was kept so clean could imply frequent use. That thought drove him to search more urgently in fear that someone might enter at any moment.

Many of the drawers and cupboards he came across were actually locked, and there was nothing useful whatsoever in ones he could access. Biting back a growl of frustration, he returned to Thrawn's side.

"There's nothing here, sir, but I am going to go check some of the other rooms. There's got to be something that can be of use somewhere, and I'm going to find it." Biting his lip, he looked around the room again. Perhaps Thrawn should hide himself somewhere he wouldn't be seen in case someone did return while Eli was away. But where? The only possibility he could see was inside one of the larger cupboards against the wall near them, but it would be a tight fit and might not even be possible given Thrawn's injuries. "Here. Do you think you can move to the other side of the room, around the corner of that table against the wall there?" he asked, trying to put as much positivity into his voice as he could. "It's not an ideal hiding spot, but at least you'll be out of sight of someone who might walk in through the door."

Thrawn glanced wearily at where Eli was pointing, but he nodded slowly, wincing as he allowed Eli to help him get to his feet. Reaching out, he used the countertops to keep from leaning too heavily on Eli as they hobbled across the floor. Once in position, he slid silently to the floor again, closing his eyes and leaning his head back as before. Eli felt horrible. He was no good at this, and if he ended up getting them caught, or getting Thrawn hurt worse—

No. It was no good dwelling on that at the moment. He had to find something to help Thrawn so they could get out of there. That was the priority.

"I'll be back," he murmured, gripping Thrawn's hand encouragingly. Thrawn nodded weakly. "Signal me if there's trouble." He tapped Thrawn's sidearm for emphasis.

With that, he got up and left.

The hallway was still empty when he peered out. He paused, listening. There was no sign that anyone was nearby. Taking a deep breath, Eli stepped out, taking care with the door so that it closed without a sound. Keeping to this side of the hall, he tried the next door. It was the first one he encountered that was actually locked. Grimacing, he moved to the next one.

He paused, staring at it. The door had been left slightly ajar. Was someone in there? There didn't seem to be a light on inside, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Holding his breath, he pressed himself against the wall and sharpened his hearing for any sound of movement inside the room.

Nothing.

Upon closer inspection, he could see that the bolt intended to lock the door when closed had been turned while the door was still open, thus preventing it from shutting all the way. Pulling out his blaster, he stepped up to the door and slowly pushed it open. The door squeaked briefly, and Eli tensed; but a moment passed with nothing further happening, so he moved closer and looked inside.

It was an office. The room was smaller than the lab in which he had left Thrawn, but it was still of decent size. And this room had a window looking out into the cavern as well. Unbolting the door, he slipped into the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

He wasted no time in searching all the drawers and cupboards he could find here, but he was growing quickly discouraged. It was practically as useless as the lab, with many of the drawers locked or filled with useless materials. Heaving a heavy sigh, he turned around and leaned back against the desk he had just been inspecting, his gaze sweeping the window again.

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward slightly for a better look. Something at the far end of the cavern caught his attention, and then his eyes widened. He stood up straight, moving close to the window to confirm what he thought he saw.

Sure enough, across the cave from where he stood, there was a gaping hole in the cavern wall, and a ship had just entered the cavern through it. The ship was not large, but it was of decent enough size and with enough cargo space to carry materials in or out. Even as he watched, it landed within an area on the cavern floor that was clearly designated for such. There were already a few other ships parked there. How had he missed that before?

Just then, he noticed that someone seemed to be staring up in his direction, one hand on his hip near his firearm, the other hovering near his mouth. As if speaking into a comlink. With a gasp, Eli stumbled away from the window. Had the man actually seen him? He was at least halfway across the cavern, and the room Eli was in was dark. It could just be coincidence.

Eli couldn't afford to find out.

Spinning around, he walked quickly to the door. They could not waste any more time. Re-entering the hallway, he moved on to the next door, finding that one unlocked. The room inside, however, was completely dark. He fumbled around for a switch but found nothing. He had no light on him, nor was the light from the hallway strong enough to pierce the darkness. When he stepped inside, he could tell that the room was narrow and close. Perhaps a storage closet of some sort? Stepping back out, he looked around for any sort of sign that might indicate the type of room. There was nothing. If these rooms had been labeled at any point, the signs had been either scratched off or removed.

Even so, a storage closet might actually have something they could use.

Eli entered the room again and tentatively felt his way around. There were some shelves with boxes on them, but the boxes were exceptionally heavy. Given the type of material he saw out in the cavern, who knew what these might contain? It could be dangerous if he dropped one. Moving cautiously, he continued to feel his way around the room, running his hands lightly over every object he encountered.

Then he felt it. A spool of rubber-coated wire. His fingers curled around the object greedily as he pulled it off the shelf. Yes, this might be helpful to tie something together. It was too thick for binding a splint, but it might prove useful in putting together some sort of crutch. Now he just needed something long and stiff, preferably several of varying sizes for both the splint and the crutch. Of all the places to find something like that, a supply closet was his best bet here. Hopeful, he continued his blind exploration.

That hope faded quickly as the room produced nothing of the kind. Eli swore. At least he had the wire. That was one piece. He just needed something, like a pole or a rod or—

—or a droid arm. The idea suddenly hit him, and as much as he did not want to go back up there, he knew that was his best and quickest chance. The droid wouldn't be needing them anymore anyway. Exiting the closet with barely a glance down the hall, he dashed back to the lab.

"I think I just about got what we need!" he called across the room as quietly as he could manage as soon as he entered. "I will be right back."

There was no response from Thrawn, but Eli didn't really wait to give him a chance. His adrenaline was pumping again, and he needed to move quickly. Leaving the spool just inside the door, he left again, moving cautiously to the end of the hall. There was no sound of anyone in the stairwell, but he still kept his steps silent, taking the stairs by twos as he ascended back to the level just above them. Pausing at the door to catch his breath, he listened yet again for the sound of anyone or anything on the other side. Silence. Carefully turning the door's handle, he pushed it open, subconsciously wincing in expectation of finding the droid's bulky remains in the hallway. His heart leapt into his throat.

The hallway was empty.

The droid was gone.

For several long seconds, he just stared, not quite registering it. Then, pushing the door open more, he peered around toward the elevator, in case he wasn't looking in the right spot. But no, it had been near that stack of crates where they were hiding, and it was not there anymore. Nor was it near the turbolift. It was nowhere to be seen.

Heart pounding, Eli slowly closed the door once more, collapsing to his knees as he stared blankly at the metal door inches from his face. His entire body trembled. That droid had been dead. It could not have moved on its own. So that meant someone had come and cleared it away. Someone who could still be nearby. Someone who knew he was armed.

With a sudden start, he realized that Thrawn could be in danger. Jumping to his feet, he rushed back down the stairs, trying to be quiet but more concerned with being quick. He burst into the hallway, his blaster already in his hand.

His premonition had been too slow. Even as he exited the stairwell, he saw the door to the lab closing, as if someone had just entered. Gritting his teeth, he ran to the door, yanking it open and jumping inside, blaster up and ready to fire.


	4. Chapter 4

"Don't take another step!"

Eli braced his grip on the blaster, pouring into the expression on his face all the heat and fury he felt coursing through his body. He'd never been very intimidating, but there was always a first time for everything.

Unfortunately, intimidation did not generally work well on droids. The one in front of him merely turned silently at his command, its glowing eyes fixing steadily on him as if daring him to try anything. Eli did not look away, but in his peripheral vision he noted that the room appeared empty. Good. Hopefully Thrawn would continue to go unnoticed.

Eli jumped when the droid spoke. However, the words were either garbled or of a language Eli had never encountered before. He swallowed, begging silently that his arms would not begin to shake as he kept the weapon trained on the intruder. The droid was tall, nearly as tall as Thrawn; and unlike the first one they had encountered, this one was definitely more humanoid in shape. Its arms were long and thin, as were its legs, and they were of a design which implied they were built for speed and agility. Eli highly doubted he could outrun this thing, and Thrawn definitely couldn't in his current condition. There were no obvious weapons on the droid, but that didn't mean it was unarmed. Sensors covered its face, its eerie amber eyes sending a shudder through Eli as it stared unwaveringly at him. The body of the droid was thick, and its chest casing was split down the middle. It stirred.

"I said don't move!" Eli snapped, raising the blaster a bit more to aim it at the droid's face. It spoke again, and then its chest piece shifted. Reflexively, Eli's finger moved, and fiery bolts lit up the room in staccato red bursts as he hit the droid practically point blank in the face. Metal flew across the room, and the droid jerked back; but it was undeterred by the attack. It pressed forward, raising its arms as if to reach out and grab Eli. Forcefully swallowing the cry trapped in his throat, Eli twitched the blaster down as he took a step back, pouring the deadly shots into the droid's body. His back hit the door, and he stiffened. There was no chance he could reach down for the handle, just in case that slight distraction would be just enough to give the droid an edge over him. If Eli went down, there was no hope for Thrawn. He couldn't take that risk.

Then, without warning, blaster fire erupted from the other side of the room, slamming into the droid's back. Eli flinched as bits of the droid flew into his face, and he threw his arms up protectively. A heavy silence fell over the room, and Eli peered out in time to watch the dead metallic husk crash to the floor at his feet. Gulping, he looked up to meet Thrawn's own glowing eyes piercing through the haze.

Thrawn leaned heavily against the center table, and Eli stepped hastily around the defeated droid to join him on the other side of the room.

"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

"I do not believe it knew I was here," Thrawn answered, his voice low and still strained as before. Eli attempted to help him sit back down, but Thrawn waved him off with a frown. "It would not have been long before that changed, though. Your timing was fortunate."

"It would have been more fortunate had we gotten out here before that thing arrived." Eli pressed his lips together as he looked over Thrawn. "Which reminds me: the droid from upstairs, the one we first saw, is gone."

Thrawn's brow furrowed. "Gone?"

"Yeah," Eli confirmed with a grimace and a shrug. "I think someone came to get it. There's no way it could have moved on its own." He turned his head to glance out the window. "Which means someone knows we're here."

Thrawn raised an eyebrow and shifted his gaze deliberately in the direction of the droid they had just destroyed.

"Yeah, I know," Eli said, feeling his cheeks warming. "This could have been just a normal sentry droid, but you're right. It's likely it was sent to find us. And now it did." He grimaced and shook his head, running a hand nervously through his hair. "We need to get out of here now." Picking his way carefully back toward the fallen droid, Eli stared down at it. "Thankfully, I think I've found just the sort of thing I was looking for." Lifting the blaster once more, Eli lined it up with the shoulder joint and squeezed off three shots. The arm clattered to the ground, and Eli stooped to pick it up. Then, grabbing the spool of wire he had left near the door, he returned to where Thrawn had settled himself again on the floor.

"They are oddly calm out in the cavern for having intruders on their base," Thrawn commented quietly.

"What's that?" Eli asked, tilting his head.

"The men out there," Thrawn said, tipping his head toward the window. "They go about as if everything is normal."

"Yeah, you know, I noticed that as well." Eli glanced quickly into the cavern before dropping out of sight beside Thrawn. "I don't know what to make of it either, but it makes me nervous. Let's get this splint set up so we can move." Eli studied the pieces he had gathered together. Then he took the blaster again, set the droid arm a couple feet away from them, and shattered the elbow joint. He then set the blaster down and proceeded to remove his tunic. "Sorry about this," he muttered as he then also removed his undershirt. The fabric of the tunic would not tear as easily as his undershirt, and time was of the essence. He needed something quick that would serve to tie the metal rod to Thrawn's leg. After pulling the tunic back on, he mercilessly tore his undershirt into strips. Working quickly, he soon had the splint in place. "There. That should—"

A sudden, almost supersonic screech filled the room, and both of them fell forward with their hands clasped over their ears. Pain spread from Eli's ears into his head at the unnatural sound. He forced his head up to demand what was going on when his blood froze in his veins.

Staring at him from over the central table was the droid, inexplicably on its feet once more. At the sight of it, Eli's breath was stolen from him, and his heart pounded against his ribcage as if desperate to get out. The droid's face was gone, blown off in Eli's earlier attack. The circuitry that had been behind the face panel was exposed, wires protruding everywhere, with a hideous jaw jutting out below and blazing red points of light where the eyes had been. The horrific image came straight out of a nightmare. The droid's remaining arm gripped the table as it leaned forward, so intent on reaching them that it did not even bother to go around the table.

"Out! Out! Out!" Eli screamed, not even able to form anything more coherent than that. He pulled Thrawn to his feet, and both of them rained blaster fire on the droid. Its metallic fingers scraped across the surface of the table as the impacts from the blaster bolts pushed it backward onto the floor.

Suddenly, all the lights in the entire facility went out.

Eli swore and nearly failed to hold himself together.

A moment later, emergency lighting kicked in. Visibility was reduced to less than half of what it had been before, and the cavern itself was nearly pitch black with the flood lights out of commission. Even so, out of the corner of his eye Eli caught movement in the cavern. Everyone below was scrambling. Ships were leaving.

The droid hadn't gotten back to its feet. Eli dragged Thrawn across the room toward the door, ignoring the sharp hiss escaping his companion. He kept the table between them and the droid where it had collapsed for a second time. But they would have to enter its line-of-sight in order to reach the door. Eli's stomach was in his throat. Cautiously, he leaned forward. The droid was lying on the floor, unmoving. But that didn't necessarily mean anything anymore, except that now was their best chance.

Grabbing the handle, he forced the door open, and they both tumbled out into the hallway.

The hallway had not been very bright before. Now it was washed in darkness, the pale emergency lights failing to provide any decent visibility. At the far end of the hall, a red light flashed intermittently. Eli half expected a siren to be echoing through the base. The silence that pervaded everything was somehow even more unnerving.

They didn't have time to waste. Everyone was evacuating the cavern. If they were quick enough, maybe they could sneak out on one of the ships themselves, using the mad scramble as cover. It was the only thing Eli could think of right now. They dashed to the door for the stairwell, and Eli ushered Thrawn inside. The hair on his body stood on end as he expected any moment for the droid to come flying out the lab in a rampage. "Come on," Eli muttered as he hastily urged Thrawn forward, unsuccessfully trying to keep images of the decimated droid out of his mind. "Down," he ordered, leading the way as quickly as the sparse lighting would allow. To the bottom.

At least, he hoped the stairs ended on the ground floor.

Behind him, he could hear Thrawn's labored breath, and a shock of guilt shot through him as he only just remembered Thrawn's injury. The unexpected revival of the droid and the power outage had thrown him for a loop, and until now his mind had been solely focused on getting them out of there alive—despite the fact that he had literally just helped Thrawn bind his leg. But even now he couldn't pause for an apology. Not until they were somewhere safe enough to rest a moment. Preferably somewhere with a locking door.

Perhaps Thrawn was now regretting having Eli as his aide.

Pushing the thought away with a grim shake of his head, Eli heaved a quiet sigh of relief as they did finally reach the end of the stairs. Such relief was short-lived. The light above the door cast the bottom of the stairwell in the color of blood. Eli tried not to read anything ominous in it. It was simply the tension of their situation playing with his imagination. He checked his blaster before reaching out to lay his hand tentatively on the handle of the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it slowly, blaster ready.

There was no one on the other side. This hallway was as empty as the one they had left several floors up. Motioning to Thrawn with the blaster, he moved forward, Thrawn at his heel. Several meters down the hallway, there was a doorway on their right. The sign on the door was in an unfamiliar script, but it looked important. They stopped in front of it. Thrawn leaned against the wall, looking like he was ready to collapse.

A noise further down the hall caused both of them to jerk to attention and stare into the darkness filling the spaces between the emergency lights. Eli reached desperately for the handle of the door.

Only, there wasn't one.

"Here," Thrawn rasped, moving to the side to reveal a touchpad beside the door. He pressed it, and to Eli's great relief, the door hissed open. They both slipped inside, and Eli slammed his hand against the door panel on the inside. The door closed once more.

But would it lock?

The room was dark, but there was light enough from the window beside the door to see that there were several buttons beside the door panel. However, Eli could not read what any of the buttons were for, and randomly pressing them could inadvertently call attention to the fact that they were in that room. It was too risky.

He turned around to survey the room. One wall bore several rows of screens above a control board resting on a desk beneath them. Against the adjoining wall were situated several old style computer terminals, flickering with tiny lights. It would seem that the power outage had not affected this room. Perhaps it had its own generator? On the third wall he could barely make the outline of a door, and beside it was some sort of ventilation shaft. A quick test proved that the second door was locked; but based on the low hum coming from behind it, it was likely that there was a generator in there. Turning back to the screens, Eli noticed that each of them showed a different image. Some were of rooms, others of hallways. Several even had shots of the cavern from different angles. Most of the images were too dark to make out much, if anything.

"A security room?" Eli said wonderingly.

"So it would seem," Thrawn murmured, lowering himself to the floor and stretching out his leg. His eyes were closed, his face scrunched up in pain, and again Eli felt horrible.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, kneeling beside Thrawn. "I wanted to get us out of there. I didn't—"

Thrawn just lifted a hand to stop him and shook his head. Eli shut his mouth. Taking a deep breath, he rose to his feet and looked around the room again. The window beside the door was covered by plastic strips forming a blind that could be shifted open or close. At the moment, they were halfway closed. A sudden panic came over Eli as he thought he saw movement in the hall. He pressed himself against the wall, peering out cautiously as best he could from where he stood. Nothing. Perhaps his eyes were playing tricks on him. But there had been that noise...

His hand accidentally brushed on of the buttons, and a soft click sounded behind Eli, making him leap back in surprise. His hand flew to his mouth to stifle his startled squeak. The button that had been pressed was now glowing orange. Eli stared at it, his ears straining for any noise on the other side of the door indicating that they had been found out. But still there was nothing. Swallowing, he reached out and tapped the panel to open the door. Nothing happened.

Eli released a heavy sigh. It would seem he had accidentally found the door lock. That was an immense relief. The room was not very big, and there was nowhere to hide if someone or something did show up—except possibly under the desk, but only one of them would be able to fit there. Eli buried his face in his hands, feeling his fingers trembling with the adrenaline rush. "This is the worst day of my life."

"Do not give up hope."

Eli lowered his hands and stared at Thrawn. Thrawn was sitting with his back pressed against the wall beneath the window, and his legs were stretched out in front of him. "There's a chair here, you know," Eli offered, moving across the room and placing a hand on the back of the chair in front of the screen-monitoring desk.

"I know."

When Thrawn made no move to get up, Eli slid the chair out just enough to give him room to slide into it himself. His gaze fell absently onto the shifting screens. There was no more movement in the cavern. The ships were likely all gone by now. But he had the unsettling feeling they were not alone down here. He glanced back at Thrawn.

"So what do we do now?"


	5. Chapter 5

They both stared at each other, neither speaking as they contemplated their situation and what possible actions they could take. Eli opened his mouth to say something when there was no mistaking movement behind the horizontal blinds in the window. Breathing a silent curse, he slipped quickly out of the chair and crouched behind it. Seeing Eli's reaction, Thrawn pulled his legs up to keep them out of the window's view. He winced but said nothing.

Eli held his breath as he stared at the window, wishing he could close his eyes and yet at the same time unable to wrench them away. The blinds made it difficult to make out any details, but there was definitely someone walking slowly down the hall, headed for the stairwell they had come down.

Or headed for their door.

The taste of blood pulled Eli from the fear-induced stupor that had fallen over him, and he realized belatedly that he had been biting his lip. His knuckles were white where they held the chair in a vice-like grip. "Keep going, keep going," he mouthed to himself silently. The shadow disappeared as it moved past the window. Eli counted his heartbeats, expecting any moment for there to be an attempt on the door.

Several painful moments passed, and Eli was just about to release his hold on the chair and rise to his feet when the figure moved in front of the window again. It was closer this time, but it was moving in the opposite direction. And it _was_ moving. Eli stayed frozen in place until it was out of sight once more. Then, with slow, deliberate movements, he released the chair and crawled on his hands and knees across the floor until he was beside Thrawn, beneath the window. Lifting himself up cautiously, he peeked out between the blinds.

The figure was moving away back down the hall at a slow, steady pace. He couldn't quite tell, but it seemed to maneuver more like a droid than a person. Eli remained still until it had disappeared from view down the hall.

"We can't stay here, either," Eli whispered. "We're as trapped as lyrats in a hole. We have to move again before it comes back."

"I cannot."

Eli frowned, shoving down the flare of frustration that had suddenly welled up inside him. "We must," he insisted. He was not oblivious to the reason why Thrawn did not want to leave, and he did sincerely feel bad about it. All the same... "If they find us in here, we're dead. We have nowhere to go."

Thrawn turned his head away. "You must get out."

A chill then washed over Eli. Was he really suggesting—? "Not without you, sir. You literally just told me not to give up hope. Are you now going to do just that?"

"No," Thrawn said softly but firmly. "But we need help. You move faster without me. You come back with help."

Eli couldn't deny that Thrawn had a point. And yet the thought of leaving Thrawn alone, even in a locked room like this one, did not sit well with him at all. There was something strange going on down here, and he couldn't in good conscience leave Thrawn. "Look." He settled onto the floor next to Thrawn. Faint red slits turned in his direction. "I am going to go into the cavern. Surely they have some hoverbeds in there to help move material around. I will find one and then come back for you. You won't have to walk. Then we will go to the far end of the cavern where the ships were and see if there are any left. There's a good chance there aren't, but we can still follow the cave system to wherever it leads. It must go back to the surface, since they use it for their ships. We will go together. I'm not leaving you behind." He gave Thrawn a serious look. "It's a long shot, I know, but it's better than staying here with—with—whatever is here with us."

Thrawn regarded him for a long moment, unspeaking. Then he nodded once. "Very well. Take this." He withdrew his sidearm and handed it to Eli.

"What? No! Forgive me, sir, but that's crazy. I won't leave you unarmed."

"I take yours," Thrawn said patiently, pointing to Eli's in its holster. "You are more likely to use it. You have...shot more. Mine has more." He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. "I will lock the door until you return."

Eli nodded, understanding Thrawn's reasoning. There wasn't really time for arguing, anyway, and as long as Thrawn was willing to go along with him, he would take it. "I will be as quick as I can, I promise," he said, exchanging the weapons after only a brief hesitation. He startled when Thrawn reached out to grip his hand.

"Be safe."

Eli blinked in surprise. Then he nodded again. "Of course. You, too." He placed his other hand over Thrawn's. "I will come back for you." Thrawn bowed his head then released him, and Eli rose to his feet. He shuffled over to the screens, running his gaze over them quickly to see if they would be of any help in directing him where to go. The cavern itself should be through one of the doors on the other side of the hallway, based on the layout he had seen of the place from above. But which door would take him out there? He sighed heavily and shook his head. Without any indication of where each camera was situated, this could not help him at all.

Motion caught his eye, and as he leaned closer, he saw on one of the screens the same plodding figure that had passed by their door. It was still plodding, and he could see now that it was definitely a droid, and not the same droid from the lab—thank the stars. He couldn't tell from the angle of the camera which direction the droid was moving, but he hoped it was still moving away from them. If it was coming back, he wouldn't have a chance to find his way to the cavern in time. He had to take care not to destroy another droid if he could help it, as it would only draw more unwanted attention. Their hiding place could be compromised too soon.

Taking another deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves, Eli stepped across the room to the door and touched the orange button to unlock it. The orange light went out. He then slid his hand to the door panel. Bracing himself, he activated the door. It opened with a quiet hiss.

The hallway in their immediate vicinity was clear, and Eli released a silent prayer of thanks. Inching as slowly as possible, he leaned forward until he was just able to peer around the edges of the door. The way to the stairwell was empty. Then he turned. As far as the lighting would allow him to see, the opposite end of the hallway was also empty, but it did extend beyond his sight. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he grew acutely aware of the sensation of the blaster in his hand, the hard, familiar form failing to provide the comfort he needed to move forward.

Even so, he had to go. Casting one final glance at Thrawn, he paused as their eyes met. Thrawn nodded stiffly, and Eli returned the gesture. Then he stepped out into the hall.

The door closed behind him. He forced his breathing to remain even as he listened for the sound of anything coming his way. All was silent. He moved soundlessly to the wall across from him before pausing again and listening. Still good. Taking cautious, measured steps, he proceeded down to the nearest door.

It was locked. The one after it was locked as well. Eli could feel time pressing on him like a weight, and sweat trickled down his temple. Any moment now that droid could return, and Eli had nowhere to go. Each door he tried was locked.

A cross corridor now lay before him, and he froze. What if the droid had turned down here? The main hall continued straight ahead, while the other appeared to stretch toward the cavern on his left and deeper into the facility on the right. Eli felt his stomach turn over as he briefly wondered what could be found deeper within. At the moment, his priority was to get them out; and quite frankly, he really didn't want to know what was down there.

This was not part of their mission.

Lifting his blaster defensively, he leaned out. All was clear. Without hesitating a moment longer, he took the left turn. Within a few paces he found himself standing before a large set of double doors. He stopped again. What if opening these doors set off an alarm?

The facility was already on red alert, he reminded himself. Releasing a slow breath, he prepared himself and then pushed the doors open, stepping into the darkness beyond. It was, indeed, the cavern. There were emergency lights along the wall stretching out to his right and to his left, but everything beyond the first several meters out into the cavern itself was swallowed in inky blackness. He could see the shapes of the nearest stacks of crates looming out of the darkness, but the ceiling and the remaining three walls were too far away for the lights to illuminate. Eli felt as if he was standing at the edge of a great chasm opening into nothing.

A flashlight. That would have been handy. Why didn't he have one on him? What had happened to the ones they were using before?

The door swung shut behind him, the latch falling loudly into place. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the unnaturally loud sound and spun on his heel, biting back a swear as he realized his foolishness too late. Hopefully no one was near enough to have heard that. All the same, not taking any chances, he dashed away from the door to the nearest crate and ran around it for cover, cradling the blaster close to his chest. Darkness hovered over him thick and heavy, and he found himself staring upward, his eyes straining for any sign of stars despite the fact that he knew there would be none.

Well, at least if anyone did hear the door close, it would draw attention away from the security room where Thrawn was hiding, right?

For several long, tense moments, Eli waited. When nothing happened, he concluded that his entrance into the cavern must have gone unnoticed. He closed his eyes automatically as he sought to remember what he had seen of the layout from the lab above. Peering out from around the crate, he looked upward at the rows of windows looking into the cavern from the facility, counting the floors to figure out where they had been. Then he turned back to mentally lay out the map in his head. He was pretty sure he could find his way to the back of the cavern, although he would be groping in the dark for most of the way. But where might there be a hoverbed? Everyone was leaving in hurry, so they could be anywhere. Eli pressed his lips together, thinking. If they were in a rush to get out, they wouldn't have bothered putting things away. Perhaps, then, he might find one near the landing pads. Glancing back and forth to confirm that no one else was around, he moved forward slowly.

…Why were they all running in the first place? He had purposefully pushed that question aside before as he had focused on getting the two of them to a safe place. But now the question kept pressing on his mind, and he felt the answer was significant.

There were a fair number of workers here as well as droids. They far outnumbered Thrawn and Eli and could have easily overtaken them. But instead, when the alarm was sounded, they ran. Why? Were they expecting a larger attack force?

And who had set off the alarm in the first place? It all seemed to coincide with the second attack by that droid in the lab. Frowning to himself, Eli stopped and turned to look toward the lab's window thoughtfully.

He stiffened, tightening his hold on the blaster.

No.

No, it couldn't be.

Eli blinked and rubbed his eyes then looked again. His throat closed painfully as he felt another icy hot jolt of adrenaline shoot through him.

There was a light in the window of the lab. Two lights. Two small red lights staring down at him. Watching him.

He couldn't move. He was paralyzed, trapped in place by an overwhelming dread. Then, without warning, a claxon blared throughout the cavern, and several flashing yellow lights came to life in evenly spaced positions halfway up the stone walls on either side of the cavern. Seconds later, a loud grating sound filled the room, as if a number of large freight doors were opening simultaneously. Between the gap of the nearest sets of crates, Eli could just barely see one such door sliding upward. Through it rolled some sort of machine. He wasn't in a position to get a good look at it, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to in the first place.

He looked back up at the lab window, but the eyes were gone.

A deep terror flooded him, and he was suddenly in great fear for Thrawn's safety. He couldn't continue his mission here in the cavern. He couldn't leave Thrawn alone, not if that droid was moving again.

A large stack of crates to his right crashed to the ground, and he had to jump back to avoid being crushed. With the crates now scattered across the floor, he had a better view of the machine that had entered the room near him. Its appearance reminded him of the first droid he had seen after their elevator accident, large and bulky and traveling on treads—but it was at least three times larger and in far better condition than that one had been. The row of lights on its head filled the area with harsh yellow-white light, and Eli lost his cover of darkness as the head swiveled in his direction. He lifted his blaster automatically, but he knew right away that it would not be enough to stop this thing. It rolled forward on its treads, splintering the crates and spilling their contents all over the floor as it moved toward Eli. Voice caught in his throat, Eli turned tail and took off at a blind run, weaving through the maze of crates and quickly losing his sense of direction.

Each door had released one of those things, and they were now all roaming the cavern floor. Most of them kept to the isles between crates; but as soon as they caught sight of Eli, they veered off-course to capture him. Or kill him. He wasn't sure.

And he didn't want to find out.

Thankfully, despite the twists and turns in the maze of crates, the wall of windows did not move, and Eli gradually made his way back to the entrance. He paused for just a moment beside the first crate he had hidden behind, catching his breath as he stared at the door. What if that red-eyed droid was waiting for him behind it? Or what if it had already found Thrawn?

A sick feeling twisted Eli's stomach. But before he could form another thought, two of the large droids appeared, one near the wall to his right and one near the wall to his left. They both turned at the same time and rolled forward with increased speed.

Gritting his teeth, Eli put his head down and dashed forward, slamming the door open as he ran through. This time he thought about the door and hastily closed it behind him, not waiting for it to close on its own. Thankfully, it was unlikely that the cavern droids would try to follow him in here as they were too tall for the hallways. Even so, he was not going to stick around to find out. Running forward, he skidded to a halt at the cross corridor.

Each direction was as silent and empty as it had been when he first came down this way. But that did not ease his apprehension. Turning to his right, he took off down the hall to the security room, fear and fury once again driving him forward. If that droid was here, he was going to take it apart piece by piece until there was no chance for it to revive again.

He glanced through the window as he approached the door, but he could see nothing inside. Stopping and breathing deeply through his nose, he forced himself to calm down as much as possible in order to regain control before knocking on the door itself with a special code he and Thrawn had developed back in their academy days. After waiting a moment, he knocked again, frowning and trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in his gut. When still nothing happened, he touched the door panel experimentally. The door slid open. His uneasiness grew exponentially. Thrawn had told him he would keep the door locked. Blaster raised, body tense, Eli stepped inside.

The room was empty.


	6. Chapter 6

For a long, tense moment, Eli's vision narrowed, and although his eyes scanned the room, his brain wasn't truly processing what his eyes saw. His ears were filled with a dull buzzing, throbbing in time to his pulse. His fingers hurt where they held the doorframe in a death-grip.

Where was Thrawn?

Blinking, he looked again, slowly registering the room. His gaze went immediately to the chair and under the desk and beneath the window, but there was no one there. Stepping into the room, he absentmindedly pressed the panel to close the door behind him.

"Thrawn?"

His voice fell flat in the air, and he swallowed. The screens flickered faintly on the other side of the room. His breathing sounded unnaturally loud and uneven. Forcing his feet to move, he made a deliberate search of every inch of the room, to no avail. Thrawn was not there. Staring at the screens, he looked desperately for any sign of him, but there was nothing. The droids in the cavern continued moving about in a methodical search, but that was the only movement he could see.

He had lost Thrawn! What would he do? What could he do? Passing a hand over his eyes, he forced himself to think. With his injury, Thrawn could not have gotten far. But why would he move? He said he would stay here with the door locked. He was obviously in a lot of pain, enough that he had insisted Eli go on without him. He wouldn't leave the room without reason—and a blasted good one at that. This was a relatively defensible space, compared to any other immediate option. And the door was definitely not locked when Eli returned, as Thrawn had promised. But even if the droid _had_ found him, it could not carry him or drag him far, either.

 _Unless something else found him first._

The thought made his stomach turn over, but he shoved it down determinedly. It would do no good to jump to conclusions based on zero evidence. He glanced at the screens again, but they showed him nothing new. If Thrawn had been taken, then he was somewhere not monitored by the cameras. That could even be as close as any of the rooms down the hall. He straightened, shifting his gaze to the window looking out into the hall. But as he turned his head in that direction, his glance fell across the locked door that they had been unable to access, and with a new thought forming, he immediately turned back to it, narrowing his eyes.

 _Could he...?_

The main door had been unlocked, but there was also no sign of a struggle or a break-in. Thrawn would not go down without a fight, regardless of his condition. So what if he had never actually left the room? Eli wouldn't put it past him to find a way through the locked door.

Moving across the floor, he tapped on the door. "Thrawn? Are you in there?" Pressing his ear to the door, all he could hear was the quiet hum of what was behind it. He waited then tried knocking again, a little louder this time, hoping with bated breath that he was right. His heart leapt when he heard a faint scratching sound, and he stepped back just in time as the door opened, revealing a familiar blue face with faintly glowing eyes.

Eli wilted with relief, and then, without thinking, fell forward to pull Thrawn into a grateful embrace. "I was so worried—"

He stiffened when he heard Thrawn hiss with pain, and he immediately released him, pushing away. "I am so sorry, sir! I forgot! I just—I thought—"

"It is no matter," Thrawn rasped, moving aside and motioning urgently for Eli to enter the room with him. Without another word, Eli obeyed, squeezing himself in beside Thrawn, who promptly closed and locked the door.

Eli looked around, nodding to himself. His guess from earlier had been correct. A generator filled a significant portion of the room, humming with energy. There was lighting, but it was dim and primarily came from some lighted panels and buttons on the generator itself. When he turned back to Thrawn, he found that he was watching Eli silently, his face pinched with weariness. A pang of concern tightened Eli's chest. He reached out to Thrawn and grasped his arm, encouraging him to sit. "Here, sir." They both slid to the floor. Eli continued to hold onto him, delighted beyond words to find that Thrawn was actually safe. And alive.

"I hope you did not wait long, or worry long," Thrawn murmured, and Eli had to lean close to his mouth to hear him over the hum of the generator. "I was having trouble keeping awake."

Eli frowned anxiously. "No, no, it's all right," he insisted, although the worry returned two-fold. "I was...concerned that something had happened to you when I found the room empty, but here you are, and here I am." He bit his lip as he realized he would have to confess his failure in procuring them a way out. And that he would have to tell Thrawn that the droid they had fought upstairs was not as out of commission as they had hoped.

But before he could say anything, Thrawn spoke. "I found the key not long after you left. I could see its hiding place from where I sat on the floor. There was a secret compartment under the desk." He moved his hands as if to demonstrate. "When I stood to test it, I saw on the screen that the droid in the lab was moving. I could not warn you. I could only hide."

"Yes," Eli said with a heavy sigh. "I saw it as well. It was watching me out of the window of the lab." He shuddered again at the memory. "By the way, sir," he added, lowering his gaze, "I'm afraid we can't get out through the cavern. For one, it is very dark, and I do not know what happened to our flashlights. For another, it is now filled with droids searching for me." When he risked a glance upward again, Thrawn's eyes were narrow slits. Exhaustion marred his features.

Suddenly, Eli's eyes widened. "Oh no! I left the door to the room unlocked!" As he moved to stand, Thrawn reached over and placed a hand firmly over Eli's where it still rested on his arm. He shook his head.

"It is better to leave the door as it was when we found it," he said quietly. "If the droid is looking for us, it will lower suspicion that we might be here. The door can only be locked from the inside. A locked door would mean someone is inside. As it is, we are locked in here, and I have the key." At this, he held up a thin metal key. "And it was locked before, so again, it is as we found it." He lowered the hand with the key into his lap and leaned his head back against the wall as if the mere act of speaking had sapped his energy.

Eli grimaced. It made sense, but he still did not like being trapped like this.

With a defeated sigh, he settled back on the ground beside Thrawn, hanging his head. "I don't know what else to try," he admitted. The words seemed to solidify the reality of the futility of their situation, and Eli felt a great weight pressing down on him, like all the tons of rock and metal suspended above them as they sat so far beneath the surface. It pressed on his chest, constricting his breathing. He had to focus to bring it back under control.

"Just wait." Thrawn's eyes were closed when Eli glanced over at him. "They will come."

"Who?" Eli retorted. "The _Blood Crow_? How could they possibly know where we are? We haven't been able to reach them." He turned his head with an irritated snort. "And anyway, I'm sure Captain Rossi won't miss us."

"I placed a beacon in the warehouse," Thrawn said, his voice weaker. Eli turned to him in concern. "When we do not contact, they will come."

"I wish I had your—"

There was a noise in the security room, and Eli immediately snapped his mouth shut, tensing. Rising silently to his feet, he pressed his ear to the door. As he did so, his gaze fell on the ventilation cover beside the door. Moving cautiously, he placed himself in front of it, moving his head to try to see through the slats in the cover. He could just barely make out the floor right on the other side of the wall, but he could definitely hear something moving around in the room. When a dark shape shuffled into what limited view he had, he froze.

Seconds later, the handle for the door rattled. Eli's heart was in his throat, and his hand went to the blaster at his side. In the dim light, he could see that even Thrawn had tensed, despite his earlier comment about the locked door. They exchanged glances, and Eli tiptoed back to Thrawn's side, pulling him carefully to his feet and then pushing him back to the far wall so that Eli was situated between Thrawn and the door. Eli then turned, blaster drawn.

The rattling of the handle stopped. Eli couldn't hear any movement, but they were closer to the generator now, and that could be masking any sound beyond the door. But then—

—through the ventilation covering—

—it could be his eyes playing tricks, but he felt certain he could see the faintest glow of a hostile red gaze, searching, searching—

Eli fell back into Thrawn at the sound of a muffled roar from somewhere not that far away, quickly followed by a shudder through the structure around them. The faint light Eli thought he had seen was gone. He held his breath, his heart beating wildly in his chest. _What was that?!_

Turning, he caught Thrawn's eye. Thrawn himself seemed more alert than he had been, meeting Eli's glance with a steady one of his own.

"What happened?" Eli mouthed, too afraid yet to speak aloud. Thrawn merely shook his head and shrugged a shoulder. Eli turned his head back toward the door, straining his ears for any sound. After a moment, he motioned for Thrawn to stay where he was as he crept forward, pressed against the wall to stay out of any potential sight from the vent, although he was pretty sure its view was limited to the floor just in front of it as it had been for him looking out from this side. At the door, he listened again, but still there was nothing. He glanced back at Thrawn, who stood unmoved. Taking a deep breath, Eli inched forward until he was beside the vent, not quite in view but in a better position to listen through it. He sat there for several minutes, listening, waiting, trying vainly to avoid thoughts of a mutilated droid hand suddenly bursting through the grate to grab him by the hair and pull him through. He squeezed his eyes shut, sincerely regretting the horror vids he had watched when he was younger.

Nothing happened. He released the breath he had been subconsciously holding and cautiously made his way back to Thrawn.

"It may have gone," Eli whispered, putting his mouth to Thrawn's ear as he spoke. Thrawn tipped his head in acknowledgement, but he said nothing. Eli ran a sleeve across his forehead. It was getting hot and stuffy in the generator room.

He paused, his arm midair, as realization hit him. The roar and the shudder—something had exploded. Something nearby. He remembered from when he had looked in the cavern from up above that he had seen some weapons-related material amongst everything else. Could the droids currently roaming the cavern floor have accidentally—or intentionally—set something off? And if there _was_ a fire in the cavern, there was the potential for further explosions, possibly large enough to bring this whole place down on them. Suddenly, the rogue droid no longer seemed like that big of a deal.

"We have to get out of here," Eli said, his voice tight. He braced his blaster in his hands as he strode toward the door. "Droid or no droid, we need to go." Taking a deep breath, he reached down for the door handle, gulped, turned the lock, and swung the door open, blaster raised in defense.

There was no one in the room. It was empty, although the door had been left open by the droid when it left. Had it been in a rush to get out, or did it leave it open to indicate that it had already checked the room? Approaching the door, Eli leaned out carefully, looking up and down the hall. It was also empty, but something was not right about it. It took him a moment to realize that there was a bright yellowish light spilling into the hall from the main doors into the cavern. He could see the patch of it on the floor even from where he stood.

The air was warmer than it had been. "Eli," Thrawn's voice came from behind him. He turned and saw Thrawn closing the door to the generator room, leaning heavily against the wall. He pointed toward the screens. Eli wandered over to the bank of them, his eyes fixed on the cameras from the caverns. Again, his guess had been correct. A significant portion of the cavern was now filled with flames and smoke, and his heart beat anxiously against his ribcage as he saw it spreading.

"We seriously have to get out of here," he said. "I am sorry, sir. You cannot stay here any longer, and I did not find a hoverbed. But there are explosives in that chamber, and if they go off, I don't know that we'll survive the next blast."

Thrawn nodded silently, his expression impassive.

Eli grimaced. This was by far the worst mission he had ever been on. All he wanted was to work in supply. He would never have to do any of this risky sort of business in supply. He could have his numbers and a quiet place to work and be content. But instead—

He glanced over at Thrawn again, who was waiting quietly, making no complaint about his situation. He never complained about his situation, despite the fact that he was clearly more intelligent than practically everyone else they came across or worked with. He was disdained and mocked by those around him, but he never said a word. He always gave his best, even in the menial tasks. Was this a characteristic of the Chiss in general, or Thrawn in particular? Eli frowned to himself, feeling somewhat guilty. Thrawn outshone them all, and what did he get for it?

"I'm going to get you out of here, sir," he said with a firm nod. "We're going to get out of this." Thrawn bowed his head but still said nothing. Glancing out into the hall once more to make sure the coast was clear, Eli beckoned for Thrawn to join him at the door. A moment later he felt something brush against his shoulder and turned to find Thrawn beside him, face set with determination. "Ready then?" Thrawn nodded, and Eli led the way out into the deserted but rapidly warming hall.

They traveled as quickly as Thrawn could move. Eli directed them toward the central hall leading from the doors into the cavern rather than toward the staircase. The stairs would take them up rather than away, and he wanted to put distance between themselves and the cavern before they attempted going higher. He had no doubt that there would be other stairways further into the complex.

 _Don't go off. Don't go off. Don't go off_ , he muttered as they crept forward. He hated the idea of going closer to the cavern's entrance, but it was the only way he knew to then lead them further away. He kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure Thrawn was still with him. Thrawn kept close, one hand on the wall for support as he hobbled behind Eli. Eli gripped his blaster tighter, sweeping his gaze through the hall behind them before turning back to look ahead, wary for any sign of the droid.

Where had it gone, anyway? None of the other doors were open as they went down the hall. Had it gone to attempt to put out the fire? Eli wouldn't mind at all if it burned out there—although then the image of being chased down the hall by a droid on fire nearly made him backpedal into Thrawn.

 _Keep going_ , he told himself. _Don't be distracted._

They were at the cross corridor now. The heat from the fire in the cavern was causing sweat to drip from Eli's hairline down his temple and from the back of his head down his neck. He swiped hastily at it, glancing back at Thrawn again to make sure he was okay. Thrawn's eyes met his, and he nodded to assure Eli that he was ready to continue. Eli could see that Thrawn, too, was glistening in the overheated hallway.

Sucking in a long breath, Eli leaned forward to look at the doors leading into the cavern. The fire was raging near the door, and as Eli stared, captivated, a large dark shape passed between the door and the fire. With a startled gasp, he fell back, bumping into Thrawn, who gritted his teeth as he caught Eli and kept the both of them from falling over. Eli murmured an apology as he righted himself, readjusting his grip on the blaster. Tensing himself in preparation of a possible attack, he looked once more. The shadow was gone. All he could see through the windows in the doors was the mesmerizing dance of flames. Urgency hit him again, and he stepped purposefully around the corner, realizing belatedly that he hadn't looked in the other direction before he moved.

Thankfully, no one was there. The main hallway stretched out ahead of them for as far as Eli could see, intersected at regular intervals by other hallways.

"Let's go," he said over his shoulder, and the two of them pressed forward. Eli picked up his pace, silently begging Thrawn to keep up. They could slow down a bit once they were well away from the cavern. He paused at the next junction, cautiously looking down the side halls before striding forward. It gave Thrawn a chance to catch up. He turned to Thrawn to ask how he was doing—

—when the door from the cavern burst open behind them. Eli snapped up his blaster, grabbing at Thrawn and again placing himself between Thrawn and the new threat.

Only it wasn't a new threat. Eli squinted as the heat from the cavern blew past them, throwing an arm protectively over his face to block the blinding light. But as soon as he could see, he immediately recognized the deformed shape of the droid from the lab, the tiny pinpricks of its red eyes piercing through the glare as it settled on Eli. Eli snarled, aiming his blaster. The droid screeched.

And behind it, the cavern exploded.


	7. Chapter 7

When Eli opened his eyes, he lay still for a moment, dazed and disoriented. Where was he? Why was it so dark? Why did his eyes sting?

He blinked several times, but it didn't improve much.

Then other sensations trickled in. His ears gradually registered a dull, overbearing ringing, and he was flat on his back on a hard, unyielding surface. The floor? Why was he on the floor? What had happened?

Faint, warm light danced across the ceiling, but it was hazy, like his eyes couldn't quite focus on it. He squinted, trying to understand. The answer was lying just beneath the surface, he could tell. Every time he caught the edge of memory, he tugged on the loose threads, trying to pull it together—but it would only end up falling back into a tumbled mess of confused thoughts.

Shifting, he attempted to roll onto his side, but his limbs immediately twinged, jerking, and he fell back with a sharp gasp. His whole body hurt, and for some unknown reason, an image came to mind of a rag doll being hurled against the wall by a petulant child.

He froze as the discordant pieces of memory finally coalesced and sharpened.

The warehouse. The turbolift. The droid. The cavern. The fire.

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Eli grimaced through the pain as he forced his arms to move, pushing his body into a sitting position. Looking over himself and running his hands over the most obvious areas, he confirmed that nothing was broken. Nothing major at any rate, he thought as he winced in reaction to a pained intake of breath. Something tickled his forehead, and he automatically reached up to brush it away. As he drew his hand back, the dark stain on his fingers quickly caught his eye. He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry as he hesitantly reached up again to feel gingerly around his face and head. He stiffened as his fingers brushed a damp section of his hair, his scalp stinging, the touch causing a hissing sound to escape his lips.

The sound reminded him—

His gaze immediately shot to the side as he frantically searching for his companion. Only now did he realize that the air was hazy because of smoke, and as he turned slowly to look toward the cavern, he could see that the doors had been blown off their hinges. The fire was still raging, but it had not entered the hallway, perhaps due to insufficient fuel sources. There were, however, black streaks along the walls from the explosive blast that had apparently thrown Eli down the hall. A dark lump lay sprawled on the floor between Eli and the fire, at least half a dozen meters away, and Eli's heart leapt in his throat. He felt more than heard the strangled cry that tore from his throat as he struggled to regain his feet.

His hand flung out to the side in his haste, and when it came in contact with something soft, he turned his head sharply, drawing back with a start. Thrawn! Relief immediately flooded him, quickly followed by another wave of fear. Thrawn lay unmoving beside him, eyes closed, mouth slightly ajar. Unconscious. Again.

Or worse.

"Th-Thrawn!" Eli bent forward, ignoring his own body's complaints as he grabbed desperately at the other. His ears were still ringing, and he could barely hear his own voice. He shook the alien's shoulder, staring intently at the blue face for any sign of awareness. A quick glance over Thrawn's body revealed no further injury to what he already had, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. His concussion could have been made worse. There could be internal bleeding. Hell, his neck could have snapped—

A hand flew to Eli's mouth as he choked back a gag at the thought. No. No. He couldn't think like that. Not when he didn't know for sure. He still had to get Thrawn out of there.

The floor vibrated, and Eli flinched, staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes as if expecting it to collapse on them any moment. Perhaps that would be for the best. It would be quick that way, right? And then it would all be over. This whole nightmare would be over.

But nothing further happened. The air continued to grow uncomfortably warm. It was difficult to breathe with the smoke. A coughing fit fell over him then, and he buried his face into the crook of his elbow, trying and failing to filter the air through his clothing. Everything ached. He didn't know if he had the strength to get to his feet, much less to carry Thrawn to safety.

His gaze drifted back to the misshapen form down the hall, and a shudder ran through him. The droid from the lab. That must be what it was. It was down as well, and it hadn't shown any signs of rebooting or reinitializing or whatever. Eli shook his head, unable to think straight. All he knew was that he could not risk assuming it was permanently deactivated. And given that he had no idea how long he had been knocked out, there was no saying how long it would be before the droid managed to wake up.

They had to move. Whether or not Eli felt he had the strength, they had to move. And regardless of what other injuries Thrawn may have sustained that Eli could not see, they had to move. Even if they did end up dying, it wasn't going to be through lack of trying on his part. He would not give up. He could not give up. Even if it was only to spite Captain Rossi for sending them to this forsaken planet on the edge of nowhere, he would not give up.

"All right, sir," he muttered, grunting as he inched closer to the prone Chiss. "I'm sorry if this ends up making things worse, but I'm getting you out of here."

He nearly jumped out of his skin—and he was pretty sure he may have shouted a few rather colorful and expressive words—when a hand landed firmly on his shoulder. Spinning and scrambling back at the same time, he threw up his hands defensively, his mind too overworked from the past few hours to register that this could be the rescue Thrawn had predicted.

Unfortunately, it wasn't.

"Hey, hey, it's all right!" The newcomer held up his hands as well in an attempt to show that he meant no harm, pulling back and offering what was supposed to be a reassuring smile. Eli stared at him, his heart pounding furiously in his chest as adrenaline laced his blood. It was not one of their people from the _Blood Crow_.

But he also didn't look like one of the mercenaries he had seen earlier. He was human, smooth-faced with a crown of hair a few shades darker than Eli's own. The man's clothes were neat and clean, not quite high style like someone from the Core worlds, but definitely a sign of someone with a more office-like position. Perhaps one of the scientists who worked here? Eli's frown deepened.

"What do you want?" The question came out more harshly than he intended, but it was only now that he realized his blaster was across the hall, out of reach.

The other person seemed to have caught his glance. "Not to hurt you," he said, slowly lowering his arms. "I want to help you get out of here."

"What?" The tension in Eli's body eased somewhat, but he did not relax. He was not yet prepared to trust this stranger, despite the friendly demeanor.

There was a quiet huff. "I can explain," the other man said patiently, although Eli could see that he, too, was tense. "But I would rather do it while we are on the move. The structural integrity of the base has been compromised, and the sentinel has not been destroyed. We must move away immediately."

That had been Eli's assumption on both counts, and he followed the other's gaze toward the downed droid behind them. "It can still get up, even after that?" he asked, swallowing hard. Despite knowing it was possible, even probable, Eli couldn't help asking the question.

"The sentinels were designed to be very effective and resilient," the man said, and an odd look crossed his face. But before Eli could decipher it, it disappeared beneath the intense concentration that suddenly filled the other's expression. He was staring at Thrawn.

Eli felt a sudden swell of defensiveness fill him, and he opened his mouth to say something—what, he wasn't entirely sure—but the man beat him to it.

"Your friend is injured," he commented, and Eli nearly bit back with something sarcastic given the obvious splint on Thrawn's leg and the fact that he was unconscious; but he pressed his lips together tightly instead. If this man was indeed going to help them, he had best not ruin it by allowing his own weariness and pain to say words that could not be taken back. The man reached out, touching the side of Thrawn's face with long, pale fingers. His eyebrows drew together in a frown. "He is alive, but he has a concussion that is worrisome."

"How can you get us out of here?" Eli asked. He was already well aware that Thrawn's condition was not good, and the man himself had suggested that haste was needed.

The man's gaze met his, sharpening in silent agreement with Eli's thoughts. "Can you walk?"

Eli frowned again, shifting his legs and rotating his ankles. He didn't notice any sharp pains, although he wouldn't know for sure until he tried to move. "I think so."

The man nodded as his gaze drifted over Eli's body in the same evaluative manner he had done for Thrawn. "Good. I will carry him. You follow me. We must move quickly. There is a turbolift further down that I have reactivated. It will take you to the surface." He moved toward Thrawn, reaching out to gather him up in his arms.

Eli's hand shot out and grabbed the man before he could touch the Chiss. He turned his head to face Eli, warm brown eyes sparking curiously at Eli's reaction as the corner of his mouth twitched downward briefly. Eli glanced down guiltily at where his fingers were wrapped tightly around the other's upper arm. With an effort, he loosened his grip. "Just…be careful, all right? He's—" Eli suddenly realized that he didn't know what he wanted to say, and his voice faltered.

"I know," the man said quietly, and a faint smile returned to his lips. "I will take care. You have my word."

Eli nodded dumbly, feeling his cheeks grow warm. He then stared in awe as the man carefully maneuvered his arms beneath Thrawn and lifted him from the floor, cradling the tall Chiss against his chest with seemingly little effort.

Who was this man? What sort of experiments did they do down here? Something cold and uneasy twisted in Eli's stomach.

The man looked down at him. "Come. We must go now."

Nodding again, Eli scrambled to his feet, unable to help a quick peek back at the sentinel, as the man called it. It remained unmoving, and a part of him hoped that it had finally met its end, regardless of what the other had said.

As the man carrying Thrawn moved down the hall in the opposite direction from the cavern, Eli spared a brief moment to shuffle to where his blaster had fallen, stooping to pick it up before turning to follow. He looked over it; it seemed unharmed. Sliding it back into its holster, Eli jogged to catch up. It would seem that his limbs were still in decent working order as well.

"So why do you want to help us?" Eli asked as he fell into step.

The man glanced sideways at him, but his stride remained steady. "I know you are not part of the group who took over the base," he answered, smiling grimly. "And it's because of you that I am here and not—" He stopped speaking mid-sentence as they passed through an intersection, turning his head to peer down the side halls. "I was in stasis," he continued a moment later. "When the invaders initiated the _abandon base_ protocol, I was released from stasis and given the same order to leave as everyone else. But I didn't." Again he glanced at Eli, but Eli couldn't quite read his expression. "I reviewed the logs to find out what happened. I saw your arrival and the events that followed, including the dispatch of the sentinel. I immediately locked down the other sentinels so that they wouldn't be activated as well."

"There are more?" Eli interjected, his blood suddenly running cold at the thought.

"There are twenty sentinels assigned to this base," the man confirmed. "It is…possible that the others have already been decommissioned by the invaders, given that they should have stopped them when they first arrived, but I did not want to take that risk."

A deep shiver ran down Eli's spine. "Let's hope you were successful," he murmured.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the man tilt his head. "You would already know by now if I wasn't."

Eli bit the inside of his cheek, forcing away the terrifying thoughts that sprang to mind. "Why were you in stasis?" he asked instead, turning his thoughts to something else. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I had—"

A familiar, dreaded noise sounded behind them, cutting him off, and Eli turned in horror. The man turned as well. The blaze of the fire was still bright despite the fact that the cavern was now some distance away from where they stood. And rising slowly to its feet, dark shape framed by the flickering flames, was the sentinel. It shrieked in fury as it stumbled forward, toward them.

"Run!" the man yelled, turning back and dashing down the hall away from the droid. Eli didn't have to be told twice. The halls all blurred together as they ran through intersection after intersection. All Eli could focus on, despite himself, was the sound of metallic steps pounding the floor behind them. He didn't dare risk a glance, pouring his attention solely on the back of the man as he carried Thrawn toward this promised turbolift.

"Right!" the man called, taking a sharp turn. Eli skidded, narrowly avoiding a collision with him, but he didn't stop. He did, however, make the mistake of looking sideways as he changed direction and felt his throat tighten painfully in heightened fear. The sentinel was still in pursuit and was slowly closing in.

"It's getting closer!" he cried as he dashed after the other. Looking up, he could see the turbolift at the end of the hall, the bluish-white light of its interior beckoning him with its hope of freedom. The rest of the hall was dimly lit with emergency lighting only.

The man stopped at Eli's warning, and Eli felt a flash of rage flare up at the hesitation. "Don't stop! What are you doing?! The turbolift is right there!"

"We won't make it," the man said, setting Thrawn down gently.

"What?!" Eli demanded, his voice high and shrill. "So you're just going to give up? We can make it! We could have made it, if you didn't stop!" He paled as a dreaded thought came to him. "Unless—unless you—you don't want us to—"

" _We_ won't make it," the man said, some frustration coloring his own voice and expression. "But _you_ can. Take him. Go!" The man then turned and ran back the other direction.

"Wh-what—" Eli stammered, his mouth falling open in shock. "What are you doing?!"

"GO!" the man barked over his shoulder. Eli jumped back then looked down at Thrawn, still unconscious at his feet. There wasn't time to think. There wasn't time to argue. If the man insisted—

Eli bent down, struggling to lift Thrawn. There was no way he would be able to carry him as the other man had done, but he didn't have to. He only had to get Thrawn into the turbolift and get it moving. Locking his arms with Thrawn's and settling Thrawn's head as best he could against his chest, Eli stepped backwards, Thrawn's legs dragging on the ground. Eli grimaced, pressed between making his steps steady and making them quick. He glanced up just as the sentinel rounded the corner.

The man leapt the last few feet, slamming his body into the sentinel and sending them both tumbling to the ground. Eli stopped for a split second, staring. What was the man thinking? He was going to get himself killed!

 _He's doing it for you, so get a move on!_

With a jolt, Eli snapped out of it, hastily backing up the last few feet until both of them were in the turbolift. Again he froze, mesmerized by the scene that played out in front of him. The fight between the man and the sentinel was intense, the movements of both quick and precise. Again, something deep within Eli stirred with uncertainty, but he didn't know what it was or what it meant. He just knew that there was something he was missing.

Then, in one swift, calculated movement, the sentinel drove its remaining arm into the man's stomach. Eli cried out, his voice echoing down the hall as the man twitched and doubled over. The sentinel's head swiveled in Eli's direction even as it twisted its hand where it was buried in the man's torso before pulling it away just as quickly. The man slumped to the ground. The sentinel turned dramatically and stalked down the hall toward the turbolift. Despite the unexpected lump in his throat and the tears blurring his vision, Eli managed to slap the door controls and then punched the button for the top floor. As the door hissed shut and the turbolift began to move upward, Eli fell back against the wall and slid to the floor, burying his face in his hands.

He didn't even know this guy—never even asked his name—and he just sacrificed himself to get Eli and Thrawn out of here. Eli felt like he was going to be sick. A sob welled up in his throat as he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. This was not what he signed up for. He knew he could end up in big trouble trying to leave the Navy, but he seriously had to reconsider his options once they were out of here.

His gaze fell on Thrawn, and he stilled. Could he just abandon Thrawn like that? After one bad mission? Not that Thrawn actually needed him for anything, and why he kept Eli around after all this time was anyone's guess. But things much worse than this happened all around the galaxy at any given time. Would he run at the first sign of trouble, or would he stick to it in order to do what good he can where he can? He had seen firsthand that Thrawn cared more about the things that were important than most other Imperials. Even if he was a bit reckless at times. And his thought processes were rather difficult to follow. Eli frowned softly, studying Thrawn's face.

Would he ever understand him?

"Sorry about that."

The voice came from the intercom near the door, and Eli swore as he nearly fell over in surprise. It was the man who had helped him, the one he had just watched die.

"That went a little differently than planned, but I am glad you made it to the turbolift."

"What the hell?" Eli stared at the intercom, his mind whirring in confusion and disbelief. "I thought you were dead!"

"I was also designed to be efficient and resilient," the man replied, and Eli could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

 _Wait, what?_

"I don't understand," Eli said slowly.

"I apologize. I—" The man's voice was suddenly cut off by a burst of static, through which Eli thought he could hear the jumbled sound of an electronic voice. No words were discernible, but it caused the hairs on the back of Eli's neck to stand on end.

The silence that followed filled Eli with a growing unease. Then, with a sudden jerk and a loud clunk, Eli found himself sprawled on the floor of the turbolift beside Thrawn.


	8. Chapter 8

The turbolift had stopped.

Again.

Flashes of memory from their original descent—truly not that long ago, but it felt like ages after everything that had happened since—fed Eli's growing dread.

They were never going to escape, were they?

Surely this was just some horribly nightmarish dream, perhaps the result of something bad he must have ingested recently. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to remember what he had for his last few meals. His fear-addled mind refused to cooperate, and he could think of nothing except how they were trapped in this metal container, again, hovering on the brink of a deadly fall.

As long as nothing else forced its way in first.

Eli felt his hands shaking, and he clenched them tightly, counting his breaths until he felt himself grow calmer. They had traveled upward for some time before the lift froze. They were far above the floor they had been on. There was no way the sentinel would be able to reach them anytime soon. Would it come after them? Eli had no doubt. But it would take time. Time that Eli now had to put to good use.

He glanced at the intercom, wondering if he should try contacting that man back. Had he been attacked by the sentinel again? The noise that had filled the channel before it was cut off did not sound good.

Pressing his lips together, Eli shook his head. He and Thrawn were on their own now. Even if the man was alive, he was still on the bottom floor as well. Eli had to rely on himself to get them out of here now.

Turning his gaze to Thrawn, Eli crawled toward his unconscious companion, feeling his face and head for any noticeable swelling and checking the pulse at his neck. He was still alive, still breathing, and there wasn't anything that Eli could see or feel to indicate further head injury. "Thrawn?" he tried, tapping lightly at his cheek. Still nothing. Thrawn had been unconscious for a while now, and Eli felt worry gnaw at his stomach, despite the lack of physical signs of trauma.

But he could not let that distract him. Not right now. They had to get to safety above all else.

Pulling himself to his feet, he went to the control panel of the lift to inspect it. None of the buttons responded to his touch, although the display was currently backlit by an orange light. He was pretty sure it wasn't like that when they entered. Was that because of whatever made them stop? Would it be possible for him to override it?

Doubt and urgency warred within him as he looked from the panel to the door and back again. He wished desperately that Thrawn was awake. He could use some advice and support right now.

"Thrawn," he murmured as he ran his fingers around the panel to get a feel for its design and how to open it. "Come on, please. I need you." He glanced over his shoulder, but Thrawn had not moved. Tears burned at the corners of Eli's eyes, and he wiped them hastily away.

To be so close to getting out of here and fail now—

Eli jumped at the sound of something scraping the roof of the lift, and he immediately dropped into a crouch, staring upward as his heart tore at his chest. He could see now that there was a hatch in the roof, and by the sound of it, something was working on getting it open. He could hear the various latches and locks being released. Any moment now, it would swing open.

He couldn't breathe.

It couldn't be.

It couldn't have found them already.

It was impossible.

Hands fumbling for his blaster, Eli crawled back to Thrawn and leaned protectively over him, aiming his weapon at the hatch. His finger brushed the trigger, ready to shoot the moment it opened.

 _Don't be so quick! It could be rescue._

Eli swallowed painfully, moving his finger away reluctantly. That did seem the more likely scenario, given his most recent thoughts regarding the movements of the sentinel.

Unless the sentinel had activated another elevator and beat them to the surface while theirs was in lockdown.

His finger twitched again.

The hatch swung down, a short ladder attached to it descending about halfway down the length of the lift, and Eli's heart leapt into his throat at the sight of a familiar face peeking over the edge.

"Whoa! Don't shoot!"

Eli immediately shifted the muzzle of the blaster down a few centimeters, not trusting his nerves at the moment. "What in the name of all that is great and good is going on here?" he snapped, frowning in irritation as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. "How are you here, and how are you not dead?" His limbs shook, and he passed a hand over his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that," his rescuer said sincerely as he shifted around and dropped into the lift. The whole thing shook briefly with the impact, but the lock holding the lift in place was strong. "There wasn't really time to explain—and honestly, there isn't really time now, either. You're only about a floor away from the warehouse level where you first entered. There's an access ladder outside. If we can get you out—"

Eli opened his eyes again as the man spoke—and froze, staring at the other with a look of horror.

The man stopped, catching Eli's look and immediately realizing what was wrong.

"Oh, right, this…" he said quietly, touching the side of his face where it had been slashed by the sentinel. What could be seen beneath the torn skin was not the expected red of flesh and blood or white of bone; what could be seen instead was a mess of black and silver, with periodic flickers of blue light. "I'm sorry." He turned away so that Eli couldn't see the injury, as if embarrassed by it.

But it wasn't so much the severity of the injury as it was—the man—he—

"What are you?" Eli's voice was barely a whisper.

"A project," the man answered enigmatically. "An experiment." The previous energy had drained from his voice. His hand then drifted to his stomach, where Eli now noticed the torn clothing and strange markings on the man's skin—what he could see of it. The man kept it mostly hidden, pulling at his shirt as if to cover it. "It doesn't matter," he then said, a hardness creeping into his words. "All that matters is that we get you out. Now." He turned his head just enough to meet Eli's gaze. His eyes were sharp and determined. "Do you trust me?"

Eli continued to watch the man silently. Did he trust him? He had gotten them this far and had offered his assistance readily from the beginning. If Eli refused his help now, they could wait and hope the _Blood Crow_ and its crew would find them before the sentinel did. And if the man did betray them?

Well, Eli had seen him fight. If the man had wanted to take them down, why wait until now to do it?

"What is your name?" Eli asked, lowering the blaster to his side as a show of good faith.

The man's mouth flattened as he considered Eli's question, and his head tilted slightly. "You can call me Arc," he said after a moment, and it sounded more thoughtful than suspicious.

Eli nodded slowly. "My name is Eli." Wincing, he rose to his feet. "And I do trust you. You've given me no reason so far not to."

A look crossed Arc's face then, again one that Eli couldn't quite define, but he seemed almost…pleased? Arc nodded as well, his mouth pulled back into a grim smile. "Let us get you and your friend back to your people, Eli."

Eli holstered his blaster, glancing down at Thrawn. "What happened to the sentinel?" he asked, unable to help himself. He then looked back up to catch Arc's eye. "You obviously got away alive. Did you destroy it?"

"No," Arc admitted, turning and moving toward the control panel himself. "And that is why we must hurry."

Eli did not like the sound of that. "What happened with the turbolift?" Eli then asked, looking around the lift as he said it. "Why did it stop?"

Arc had pressed a series of buttons that released a touchpad beside the control panel, onto which he now placed his hand. "The sentinel was trying to break through my system command to call the lift back. In the end, the only thing I could do was lock the lift in place. I knew you were near the top and that we could get you up the rest of the way manually. I took another lift after ensuring the rest were either too damaged for use or were themselves powered down and locked, to keep the sentinel from following in the same way. But that will not stop it for long. Undoubtedly it is already taking another path upward."

"Why is it so determined to come after us?" Eli frowned, watching Arc as he dropped his hand away from the touchpad and turned to move toward Thrawn. He followed him, and they both knelt beside the unconscious Chiss. "We just want to leave. Surely that should be enough to call it off its death hunt. We're not a threat to this place."

Arc looked up at him then, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Eli thought back over what had happened and muttered a silent _oooooh_ as realization clicked. They had attacked the sentinel first before they knew what it wanted from them. It hadn't shown any sign that it intended to harm them, yet Eli had shot it without question. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess an apology won't be sufficient…?"

Arc softly hummed a negative. "It has also been severely damaged," he said. "Even if I attempted to override its current objective, I would not be successful." He looked back at Thrawn, reaching out to touch him. "Believe me, I tried."

"Lovely." Eli sighed heavily. "Look, I'm—I'm sorry, Arc. None of this would have happened if we hadn't come here."

Arc glanced sideways at him, the corner of his mouth curling gently. "I wouldn't be awake if you didn't come here," he said. "This is my chance to escape as well."

"Escape?"

Arc nodded as he slipped his arms beneath Thrawn and picked him up once more. "The people I worked with are long gone," he said, turning to look at Eli. "I was alone, locked in sleep, possibly forever. Now I have a chance." He stepped to the middle of the lift beside the ladder and looked up through the hatch. "A chance to live," he finished quietly, almost to himself.

Then, shaking himself out of it, he stepped back slightly. "After you."

"No," Eli said, shaking his head. "Get him out first. I've got the blaster if anything happens. I will cover you." As he spoke, he withdrew the blaster and stepped away as well.

Arc stared at him for a moment then nodded, shifting Thrawn until he was draped—rather unceremoniously—over his shoulder, freeing his hand to pull them upward. Eli watched as they disappeared into the darkness above, impressed and almost jealous of the ease with which he moved in such an awkward situation. But it was only brief flicker. It was because of Arc's abilities that they were even able to make it this far. With a quick glance around the turbolift, Eli followed them up.

Arc had moved over to the side of the turbolift and was about to start climbing the access ladder he had mentioned before. Looking up, Eli could see the dim shape of the open doorway above them, the distant roof of the warehouse just visible through it.

That was it. Their escape. The end of this nightmare. Eli could see it. It was within reach.

He hadn't realized just how long he had been standing there staring until he became aware of the dark shape of Arc climbing through the opening with Thrawn at his back. A moment later, the doorway was empty again. With his heart skipping hopefully, Eli put his blaster away and moved forward, reaching for the ladder eagerly.

A bone-jarring sound, like the rending of metal, vibrated through the lift under his feet. Eli's hand gripped the rung, and he suddenly couldn't move. Arc's head popped through the doorway above him.

"What was that?" he called, a harsh, urgent tone in his voice.

"I—I don't know," Eli stammered, looking up at him but only able to see a vague outline. "It came from inside the lift, I think."

Arc muttered something Eli couldn't quite hear, and the next thing he knew, Arc was moving like lightning down the ladder toward him. Eli just barely managed to release the ladder and move out of the way.

"Go up," Arc ordered, his gaze fixed on the hatch.

"But—"

"Just do it," Arc hissed, and when he looked back at Eli, there was a light in his eyes that made Eli's stomach twinge.

"What are you—" Before he could finish, Arc had pushed him to the ladder and up the first few steps. He felt something pressed into his hand.

"When you get to the top, put this in the slot on the side of the lift panel." He kept his voice low, but Eli could hear him clearly. He could also hear other noises beneath their feet, noises that were growing louder, noises that made the blood drain from his face. "Eli, do you understand?"

Eli blinked, snapping back to attention. He glanced down at the thin disc in his hand. "Yes. Side of lift panel. Insert."

"Good. Go." Arc released him, stepping away. "Don't look back. Don't wait for me."

Eli's breath caught in his throat. "But you have to come with us!"

"My objective is to get you to safety," Arc said, crouching at the hatch and testing its lock. "You will not be safe in the warehouse if the sentinel gets through the turbolift."

"But—Arc—!"

"Please don't make all of this be in vain." Arc looked up at him one more time, and Eli only now realized that he wasn't testing the lock—he was releasing it. Shooting Eli one last grim smile and a quick nod, he heaved on the hatch door, pulling it open just long enough to slip inside. As the hatch swung back down into place, Eli felt his blood chill at the sound of a hated scream.

With shaking hands and his heart in his mouth, Eli obeyed Arc's command, climbing up the ladder rungs nearly as quickly as Arc had climbed down them. At the top, he saw Thrawn laid out carefully on the floor a few feet away.

A terrible sound echoed through the turbolift shaft. The magnetic lock holding it in place had released. In a mad scramble, Eli made it over the threshold, jumping up and lunging for the lift panel on the wall. He heard the lift move, but something was wrong with the sound. It wasn't moving upward. Cautiously, he leaned his head through the doorway and just barely caught a glimpse of the lift as it plunged into the darkness below, its speed far greater than it should be.

"No…" Eli's stomach dropped with it as he realized what Arc was attempting to do. His throat tightened painfully.

 _When you get to the top, put this in the slot on the side of the lift panel._

Eli stared down at the disc in his hand.

 _Don't look back. Don't wait for me._

His fingers tightened around it.

 _Please don't make all of this be in vain._

With slow, mechanical movements, he found the slot and inserted the disc. The panel lit up and beeped as it received instruction. The door slid closed, shutting off access to the turbolift shaft. The light in the panel blinked several times and then went dark. The panel itself was unresponsive after that.

Turning, Eli shuffled over to Thrawn and carefully lowered himself beside him.

"We're out, sir," he said quietly, gazing intently at Thrawn's face. "Now let's just hope Captain Rossi thinks we're worth coming back for."

He sat with his face buried in his hands. It wasn't until he heard the familiar whine of an engine approaching that he stirred again, and he sighed with relief as he recognized the troopers storming into the warehouse minutes later.

* * *

"Well, now you can say you've have the bacta tank experience," Eli said with forced cheerfulness as he sat with Thrawn in their shared quarters. Thrawn had finally been released from medical, and Eli's relief at that was entirely genuine.

Thrawn's response was short and considerably less enthusiastic. "Yes." He was attempting to put his hair back in order, although his gaze had shifted enough to meet Eli's.

Eli chuckled quietly under his breath as he leaned back. He tried not to think too much on recent events. Once the report was filed, he got to work on forgetting about the whole thing.

Except that he couldn't.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he still had dreams about what happened, and sometimes he woke up uncertain of where he was or what had really happened.

And worst of all, he couldn't stop wondering what had happened to Arc. Had he had a chance to escape? Or had he sacrificed himself again, falling to his death and taking the sentinel with him so that Eli and Thrawn would have a chance at rescue? Would the sentinel survive yet again and doggedly pursue Eli's steps across the galaxy?

He knew it was impossible. Even if it survived the fall of the turbolift, climbed its way out of the facility, and found a ship that it could fly off the planet, there was no way it would be able to find Eli. The galaxy was huge. Unfathomably so. He had nothing to fear. If only he could tell his brain that.

"Eli."

He jumped, turning to find Thrawn staring at him. "Hm? Sorry, sir."

Thrawn watched him a moment longer. "Do you wish to talk about it?" he asked softly.

Eli looked away. "Not really."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Thrawn tilt his head in acknowledgement. "When you are ready, then." He folded his hands in his lap. "Even so, thank you. I have my life because of you."

Eli felt his cheeks grow warmer, and he played absently with the edge of his tunic. "Oh, you don't need to thank me, sir. I probably made things worse more than I made things better, to be honest."

"Any worse than entering a turbolift without confirming it is safe to do so?" Thrawn asked with a raised eyebrow.

Eli shrugged and conceded reluctantly.

There was a small smile on Thrawn's lips. "You acted admirably in a difficult situation, taking control and doing what needed to be done, and you got us out alive. That is no small feat."

"It wasn't just me," Eli said roughly, still avoiding Thrawn's gaze. "I can't claim the credit for getting us out of there."

"I read the report," Thrawn said with a tiny nod. He observed Eli silently for a moment. "Discernment is a necessary and often vital skill. Do not underestimate its value." His eyes glinted keenly. "I can see that my own choice was on the mark."

Eli finally glanced back at Thrawn to find an intense red gaze holding him fast. He wasn't entirely sure what Thrawn meant, but he smiled back awkwardly.

"Well, sir, you're welcome," he said, straightening where he sat. "And if I may be allowed to say so, it's nice to have you back."


End file.
